Power over Ethernet is growing and becoming more widely adopted across various verticals as people see its value.
Anticipated PoE market growth
Per Market Research Future, the Power over Ethernet market was valued at $1400.34 million in 2023, and the industry is expected to have a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 22.8% from 2024 to 2032. It is anticipated to grow from $1719.76 million in 2024 to a whopping $8899.28 million by 2032.
Market Research Future states that the use of compatible PoE devices and an increased demand for ethernet are the primary market drivers of this growth.
While these numbers may seem shocking initially, they were no shock to PoE Consortium President David Robinson. Upon speaking with David regarding PoE and the forecasted market growth, it came to no surprise to him. In fact, he mentioned that he and others in the PoE market anticipated this growth to happen much sooner. That is, until the Covid-19 pandemic struck, and slowed down much of the technology industry.
PoE persists despite the Covid-19 pandemic
Although PoE and technological innovations have risen, the impact of COVID-19 is lasting. Robinson cites that PoE was initially and primarily in the commercial real estate sector. As many companies have shrunk or have employees working from home, instead of buying new buildings they decided to refurbish existing facilities and use technology, including PoE, in the workspace. Though this meant that since COVID-19 the commercial real estate sector has not had the anticipated growth expected, and former forecasts of PoE did not anticipate the pandemic and its lasting effects, PoE adoption did not vanish, it merely shifted. This included using PoE in existing buildings for automated lighting, HVAC and CO2 sensors to see how many people were in the space, and more.
Robinson comments on the research and Covid-19 further stating, “The adoption has slowed significantly. We expected adoption to be off the charts by 2025, but it is slowly but surely gaining momentum in terms of how people are accepting the technology. The technology is not new, it has been around for an excess of 20 years.”
There he mentions a key issue that COVID-19 most certainly did not help with, the slow adoption of PoE. Robinson states, “We are slowly but surely getting people to accept that this is this is not new technology it's a trusted technology.” He further mentioned peoples’ concerns of security and the concept that the technology is taking jobs from electricians. Regarding security, Robinson notes that it shouldn’t be an issue if the appropriate security is at the switch level. In terms of people losing jobs due to PoE, Robinson mentions that the PoE Consortium faced resistance in union-driven cities on the adoption of the technology because PoE devices do not need a power outlet, it was thought that electricians were no longer needed. However, PoE cable must be installed, and there are trainings of existing electricians on PoE. The PoE Consortium is developing training courses as workers see the technology will remain and would rather be part of its implementation than sit on the sidelines and let someone else do the job. With all this, there are now unions that are part of the consortium.
Is Cat6A part of this future?
Many sources say that Cat6A cables are the future of PoE, however after speaking with Robinson who had extensively discussed this with other members of the PoE Consortium, he seems to think that is not the case.
On Cat6A cables Robinson states, “It’s got a higher number of twists per linear inch rather than Cat5 or Cat5E. But you can get Cat5 cables with a 22-gauge cross-section area per conductor. We’re actually finding those are better suited to some of our applications because they are less expensive, and we’re finding that’s rather a better way of specifying the cable size rather than looking at the category classification. Especially because the devices that are being connected to these are more susceptible to voltage drop than bandwidth.”
Casey Adams, Senior Director Systems Engineers, North America for CommScope, stated in a webinar that Category 6A cables are hailed as some of the best cables for horizontal cabling with their data-throughput speeds of 10 Gbits/sec and power-delivery performance of 90W from the source. However, he does mention an issue with these cables regarding PoE applications, distance.
The standard is 100 meters, however there are some cables designed for PoE that go beyond 100 meters as Adams mentions, including the Systimax GigaREACH XL which can be used as far as 250 meters for 10 Mbps, 200 meters for 100 Mbps, and 150 meters for 1 Gbps.
Another company that is developing cable for PoE, is Superior Essex. Superior Essex Communications released its PowerWise line of cable that has “hundreds of applications” for PoE, including but not limited to, security cameras, wireless access points, and more. Power and data transmission for PoE is supplied by a single Ethernet cable, which the company says will in turn, reduce clutter, simplify installation, save energy, and lower carbon footprints.
The cable line and each cable’s specifications and details can be found here, with the four available cable families being: 10 Gigabit 4PPoE, Indoor/Outdoor, PowerWise Fiber, and OSP PowerWise CLT Fiber.
Expanding beyond commercial real estate
While PoE has, in the past, primarily been focused on the commercial real estate sector, it is expanding into the hospitality and healthcare sectors which are taking off with fault-managed power.
In hospitality, people are finding they can make an entire low-voltage building and can use Power over Ethernet for end devices. This includes whole hotel rooms with devices that operate on PoE, from TVs and lighting to mini-fridges.
Healthcare interest in PoE has risen because of the, as Robinson puts it, “easy interoperability between different systems in a healthcare facility”. Robinson provides an example of a project he is working on, using PoE in 22 hospitals. He mentions that in these hospitals they have a bed interface with keypads that control the television, the angle of the bed, the temperature in the room, various lights, and more. All these features can be accessed through one controller, which is now being made with PoE so that all interactions with that device and other systems can be seamless and low voltage.
Issues with adopting the technology
Unfortunately, it was not just union workers and security concerns that have made it difficult for people to get on board with Power over Ethernet. Robinson sheds light on how players in PoE have come and gone, and how they have left legacy issues that have rippled through the end-user industry. Robinson says that the PoE Consortium is trying to standardize the way people deploy PoE to prevent future issues.
Regarding adoption, he also stated, “End users are familiar with the shortcomings of certain power of Ethernet installations, but they're not 100% familiar with the success stories. So that is one of the challenges of the PoE Consortium, is to actually get the message out that we have got hundreds of Power over Ethernet installations across the country and they are successful.”
Standards
The IEEE 802 standard has a classification for the varying levels of PoE, the maximum power that can be utilized per this standard is 100 Watts. There have been solutions that are coming out, however, they use 120 Watts, which does not comply with the PoE IEEE standard. Robinson mentions that the PoE Consortium is, “pushing the market to stick to the IEEE standard at the moment. You don’t want to exceed that, because then there are no standards, and it really becomes the Wild West in terms of having a single supplier supplying a custom solution and nobody else can. Firstly, nobody else can compete with them. Secondly, there’s no standard to which they’d have to adhere. So, who knows where they’re gonna go? PoE mustn’t be confused with what people are pushing the boundaries with at the moment.”
